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Monday, March 26, 2012

The Geek Shall Inherit the Earth

So I know that Charlie is just in heaven because this weekend is Emerald City ComiCon and NEXT weekend is Sakura-Con (deep breaths now, buddy).

But there are also tickets to Geek Girl Con 2012 on sale now. Caution: breathless prose approaching:

On Wednesday, April 18th at 6:00 p.m., GeekGirlCon and the Association for Women in Computing join forces to host another fantastic event. Darren G. Davis, publisher of Bluewater Productions, will discuss the release of his Bill Gates comic book and give you greater insight into how the Nook and the Kindle are changing the comic book industry.

GeekGirlCon is a nonprofit organization dedicated to promoting awareness of and celebrating the contribution and involvement of women in all aspects of the sciences, science fiction, comics, gaming and related Geek culture through conventions and events that emphasize both the historic and ongoing contribution and influence of women in this culture.

Now I'm not one to call anyone a geek (though I do have one living in my home) but geeking out is being smart and diving deep in any subject so frankly, it's just a revv'ed up hobbyist.

Luckily our pals at The Stranger Slog have all the details for all these gatherings. So if you have young geeks in your home, here are some places to send them to find their tribe.

7 comments:

Thanks for the geeky shout-out (I'm a staff member for GeekGirlCon)! It should also be noted that Westercon, a big science fiction convention, will be in Seattle July 5 – 8. So many conventions, so little time!

YES! Sakura-Con is very appropriate for an elementary student interested in Japan and Anime - Parental guidance in some areas of the vendor room of course. :)

If you haven't purchased your tickets already, lines are long for registration in general, so expect to wait a minimum of 45minutes to a couple of hours, particularly if waiting in line early on Friday and Saturday.

Norse Sword, Shield, & Spear Tactical Combat - 10 amA hands-on demo. Participants, equipped with wooden swords, spears, and shields will learn and practice basic Norse weapon combat skills in a safe, non-contact environment. What is it like standing in the shield wall? Instructors will provide required equipment, to be shared by participants.

Survey of Weapons of the Middle Ages - 11 amSee and feel how hand weapons changed and developed from late Roman times until the Renaissance. All weapons will be explained, and presented for safe handling by the participants. This experience will be like a museum where you can touch the artifacts. Handouts will be available.

Survey of Medieval Armour - NoonSee and feel how body armour evolved and developed from late Roman times until the Renaissance. Various types of armour will be displayed and described. Participants will be able to freely handle real pieces of armour and modern replicas. This experience will be like a museum where you can try on the artifacts. Handouts will be available.

Sakura-Con is very family friendly. All of the programming has ratings on the suitability - live panels as well as videos. Nearly all of the MA-rated programming is late at night and no one is admitted to the MA-rated programming without having shown proof of age.

There are strictly enforced rules on cosplay to keep it from going over the line.

Minors under 14 must be accompanied by their adult escorts at all times and minors from 14 to 17 must have their adult escort on the premises at all times.

While the adult material in the vendor area is covered, some hands-on guidance there would be a good idea.

Anyone with much experience with anime (or other media from Japan) knows that the Japanese have a less prudish sensibility about what we would consider adult content, so you are probably already used to being on the alert and have already encountered some "fan service" without disaster.

I assure you that your child will be delighted - about 80% of the attendees are in cosplay - and will not encounter anything you can't handle.

What Charlie said...My 17-yr-old daughter has been attending Sakuracon since she was a middle-schooler and loves every second of it. She spends a month or more creating her costume. Last year she even had her hair dyed pink so she could cosplay as Sakura from Naruto. It is great, creative fun for kids and adults, and I'd much rather see her putting her energy into this than hanging out at the mall. She's also attended Comicon, but without the cosplay element.Solvay

Education Acroynms

Advanced Learning - SPS' three-tier program for advanced learners. Made up of APP, Spectrum and ALOs. (Note: the name of the district program is "Advanced Learning Services and Programs" but these three programs fall under "Highly Capable Services" of AL Services and Programs.

ALO - Advanced Learning Opportunity, the third tier of SPS' Advanced Learning program

AP - Advanced Placement. A national program of college-level classes given in high schools.

APP - Accelerated Progress Program. One of the levels of the Advanced Learning Program. NOTE: the name of this program is now "HIGHLY CAPABLE COHORT." This change occurred in 2014.

ASB - Associated Student Body. High school leadership groups.

AYP - Adequate Yearly Progress. Part of NCLB.

BEX - Building Excellence. SPS' capital renovation/rebuilding program that is funded via the BEX levy. Every 3 years there is the Operations levy and either the BEX or BTA levies as those two levies rotate in six year cycles).

BLT - Building Leadership Team. Staff members at a school who meet regularly to discuss building issues.

BTA - Buildings, Technology, Academics. The major maintenance/other capital fund for SPS. Originally BTA was to cover major maintenance like HVAC (heating, ventilation, air conditioning), roofs, waterlines, etc.) but now covers wide swaths of items like athletic fields, technology and funding academic needs.

CAICEE - Community Advisory Committee for Investing in Educational Excellence. Created by former Superintendent Manhas in 2008, to issue a report about reform recommendations for SPS.

CSIP - Continuous School Improvement Plan, the plan for improvement for each school as required by state law.

EOC - End of Course Assessments, given in math and science, required for high school graduationESEA - Elementary and Secondary Education Act, the federal law that governs education, includes the NCLB accountability provisions.

e-STEM or e-STEAM - STEM or STEAM curriculum with an environmental focus.

FACMAC - Facilities and Capacity Management Advisory Committee. A district committee comprises of an all-volunteer citizen group created in 2012 to help bring research and ideas to capacity management issues in the district.

FERPA - Family Education Rights and Privacy Act. A federal law that protects students' privacy

FRL - Free and reduced lunch.

FTE - Full Time Equivalent

FY - Fiscal Year

Highly Capable Services - NEW name (as of 2014) as umbrella name for these programs: Highly Capable Cohort (formerly APP), Spectrum and ALO (Advanced Learning Opportunities).

HSPE - High School Proficiency Exam, state assessment that replaced the WASL for 10th graders, required for graduation

HQT - Highly Qualified Teacher, a standard set by federal law

IA - Instructional Assistant

IB - International Baccalaureate program. An international program of advanced classes that can either be taken as stand alone or as part of an overall IB program.

IDEA - Individuals with Disabilities Education Act. The federal law that governs special education

MAP - Measures of Academic Progress. A computer-based adaptive assessment made by NWEA and originally purchased by the district for use as a district-wide formative assessment but now used for a wide variety of purposes.

MSP - Measurement of Student Progress, the state proficiency assessment that replaced the WASL for students in grades 1-8

MTSS - Multi-Tiered Systems of Support

NCLB - No Child Left Behind, a provision of the federal education law, ESEA, introduced during the George W. Bush administration